Tasha Kheiriddin: How to stop Marois

And they’re off. As expected, Quebec Premier Pauline Marois has called a provincial election, to be held April 7. And if her kick-off was any indication of the campaign to come, Quebecers will be treated to 33 days of rose-coloured glasses, especially where the state of the economy is concerned.

Dear Canada; Your long rest is over. Welcome to National Unity Crisis 3.0.

As we head into a Quebec provincial election, with the separatist Parti Quebecois in a position to win a majority, this much can be taken as given; the response in the rest of Canada to any resulting new push for independence will be quite different from last time, or the time before that. There will be no candle in the window — no heartfelt plea from Main Street Ontario, imploring Quebecers to vote “Non.” If anything, the opposite could occur.

That means the tectonic plates underlying Canadian politics may be about to move, rather dramatically, after two decades of relative calm. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals seem best positioned, for now, to convert a crisis into votes.

On unemployment: “Never in the history of Quebec, have more people been working.” Well, that’s population growth for you. On the state of provincial finances: “We have taken back control of expenses and have restored order in large projects.” Sure, if “taking control” means crafting a 2014 “austerity” budget that will never become law. Never mind the missing $2-billion in revenue last year, or the fact that the budget won’t be balanced for another two years. Everything’s just peachy in la belle province.

But the Quebec election won’t be fought solely on the economy, of course. For months, Marois has been stoking the fires of ethnic division, via the PQ’s Charter of Secularism. In the name of promoting secular values, including the equality of men and women, the bill would prohibit government employees from judges to doctors from wearing “ostentatious” religious symbols, such as kippas, turbans and headscarves. For the vote-hungry PQ, the charter is both the perfect distraction from Quebec’s financial woes, and the perfect wedge issue.

First, the Charter divides the population. In a Leger Marketing poll published in January, 57% of persons whose mother tongue is French were favourable or very favourable to the project; 30% are somewhat or very unfavourable. In persons whose mother tongue is not French, 16% are favourable or very favourable, while 72% are somewhat or very unfavourable. Since 80% of Anglophones and 88% of Allophones live in Montreal, the Charter further splits the vote along rural/urban lines, benefitting the PQ in the seat-rich regions, to the detriment of the Liberals, whose support in concentrated in Montreal.

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Second, the Charter divides the opposition. All three opposition parties have different stances on the Charter, ranging from the CAQ and Quebec Solidaire’s idea of restricting only “persons in authority” from wearing religious symbols to the Liberals’ wholesale opposition to the law. The latter position cost the Liberals one of their MNAs, Fatima Houda-Pepin, who resigned from caucus last month, thereby weakening Couillard on the eve of the election call.

While the Liberals are right to oppose the Charter, they are wrong not to propose anything in its place. Couillard is correct that the PQ have “invented a crisis” with their bill, but Quebec did hold a year of public consultations on reasonable accommodations in 2007, under the auspices of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission. The resulting report was criticized by all parties, even though it is now being cited as an acceptable compromise by some politicians.

Couillard should turn Marois’ election gambit on its head — and propose a positive alternative to the PQ’s negative plan. Instead of focusing on “secularism,” focus on inclusion. Instead of stripping government workers of their headscarves, reach out to cultures who may not share the same views, on the equality of men and women, for example. Do this through government-sponsored community support groups, job training programs and the school system.

Then make a plan to attack real issues: female genital mutilation, forced marriage and honour crimes. The Quebec Council of the Status of Women made recommendations last November on these matters. They are real problems that flow from cultural or religious-based views on inequality. Banning headscarves will not help one victim of domestic abuse, nor one girl forced into a union against her consent. But more rigorous prosecution of crimes and more resources to help women flee abusive situations will.

To have a fighting chance in this election, the Liberals need to act, not just react. They need to expose the Charter for what it is: divisive rhetoric that does nothing to tackle concrete issues. Instead of spraying vinegar like the PQ, the Liberals should spread some honey. And show that they stand for action, not just words.